RicoS321

I don't really care, but I think that isn't correct. I don't even think 2.7% is the lowest since Trump got into office. However, inflation doesn't necessarily tie in with tariffs anyway. That would be dependent on the items in the basket of goods being imported from a tariffed country. It is entirely correct that tariffs are paid by the US consumer. The offset to that is not the trillions brought in by foreign trade, obviously. It would be the money spent within the US (US consumers buying US made goods) that was previously spent on imports. If I am in the US buying timber from France and it suddenly gets a 25% tariff, then I buy from the usually more expensive US supplier for example. France doesn't suddenly buy US timber too, because the price of French timber for French people doesn't incur the tariff. The direct effect of the tariff is a cost to the US consumer, the offset being a potential increase in tax take from the resulting sale in the US. Does that make sense (genuine question, I'm going through the logic in my own head!)?

If there's an agreement in writing then the club tells its fans, for obvious reasons. If there's no agreement in writing then a scum gentlemen's agreement is worth absolutely fuck all. If he plays well enough to get into their squad, he's in, and any agreement with us is done. If he doesn't then we've just had a pish player for a few months. He'd have to be really good to make the move worthwhile for even a short term perspective. A guy that wins us 3-4 games with his creativity or goals. In a way that Armstrong, Aouchiche or Clarkson wouldn't. Whilst ensuring that at least one of those is sidelined. You're not wrong about it being a position we don't need either. Who in the world thought that we were crying out for a lightweight, flashy midfielder?

I would argue that Martindale hasn't been mentioned because he's basically Livingston FC. But, yes, it's entirely superficial with him to, he's clearly a good manager. The only doubts I'd have with Martindale are his abilities in setting up to play football rather than not to lose games (although I think he's largely answered those last season and to an extent this), but also work in a role where he doesn't have control over recruitment and all other aspects (fixing the bogs etc). I'd have Martindale over Robinson for example. Both Martindale and McGlynn will likely be better managers than many of the "foreign", "young and hungry" types that we seem to employ because they fit one of those categories rather than their ability. We're back round to the elder statesman in the managerial merry-go-round I expect, and so McGlynn would largely be welcomed. Martindale won't be mentioned for the obvious football reasons above (I'd hope nobody is still harbouring something over his previous convictions), but many will look at the superficial reasons too.

But "lower league vibes" is just superficial pish. Like Steve Clarke being dour and stubborn. His record speaks for itself out with hearts, he's clearly a decent manager. Jack Ross, Russell Martin etc all come across as modern, intelligent "professionals", but anyone who's worked in any organisation anywhere knows that has little to no bearing on how they perform. Image is basically worthless. Indeed, it's often the sign of a charlatan. That he doesn't subscribe to any of that pish is a good thing.

You're not really booing the player himself though, it's a public display of anger at the decision to get one of their players ready for first team football. There isn't another way that will satisfactorily show the disgust. A banner doesn't cut it. It needs to be heard, and discussed on the radio/telly. It's just a very obvious protest, and unfortunately for the young laddie, he'll just have to be on the receiving end of it. He did choose the Huns after fucking off the club that raised him. He's basically Connor Barron. The club needs to be held to account, and it needs to be public. I never boo the team at half-time or full-time, or if they pass the ball backwards for the ninetieth time. I'll happily boo this lad, because it's a protest that the club needs to hear, and I'm comfortable that it's not remotely Hunnish to do so in those circumstances. The tone deafness is unbelievable. The club strategy was to be working towards regularly getting into Europe with a view to pushing the scum all the way. I could almost understand the acceptance that came with the signings of Scales and Christie. We were way off the Tims in terms of budget and points, regularly, with the knowledge that they could just up their spending by a factor of ten if they felt threatened. The Huns are not at that same level though, not even close. They're a good team, with a well salaried first eleven, but beyond that there isn't much to be feared. It seems bizarre that we'd choose to try to close the gap by improving their squad, even in the short term. Of course, we know we're in a bad place and it's only really about optics, but those are important too. It also questions the ability of our recruitment team. Is this really the best they can come up with? An unavailable player? Who plays in a role, and in a way, that we're not short in? Or have we made the catastrophic decision that we have to wait for the new manager before signing anyone, therefore being behind in another window? Has Cormack still not learned from the Hornby, Hendry, Kamberi debacle?

I assume he's getting a large booing if he comes on at Pittodrie? None of the "I'll support him in a Dons top" pish. This is a fucking rank move.

On this day in 2026, the Dons signed a Hun. From the Huns.

He's got plenty of experience of the type of setup required in his previous roles though. I like him.

Aren't the players working?

Fuck sake.

I guess they wouldn't get in the way as much if they were dead, or give the ball away, so I think you might have been right.

Do you? It seems to me that he's saying nothing at all, from a vacuum of imagination. If he'd articulated his position, then there might be something to go on, otherwise it's just some trite pish, of the clever, smart-arsedness type that lacks any depth or wisdom. Fairly fucking pointless in the scheme of amiable online conversation. I would genuinely like to hear his position, going beyond the tired, narrow, elusive statistics of the system (GDP, poverty, flushing toilets etc) and some real thoughts and opinions to show me/us how linear progression isn't just a pathetic myth. It is the best time to be alive because it is the only time we will be alive, and via the lens of the technological system, things have never been so technological. Look at the improvements in art with AI. The beauty of the Top 40. Today's the best there's ever been.

You think some of them might improve with death?

Cooper Masson going to be the latest youngster to leave before kicking a ball?

The loan would be completely unacceptable to any right thinking Dandy. I'm fairly certain that Cormack will know that. I'd wait for confirmation before throwing my season ticket into the sea. But, aye, we don't need him. There isn't the room to play him and Clarkson. Probably isn't room for him and Armstrong. He has the potential to be very good if he can do the yards on the pitch.

To be fair, if Egypt are playing again at 8pm, I can understand them not wanting to expend too much energy attacking.

Good news. All of those correctly dispatched, with Milanovic requiring a loan to confirm he's definitely pish sounds reasonable. Six out leaves a much easier squad to deal with.

Not all aspects of a player's game require strength in the tackle though. Clarkson is weak in the tackle for example. He's fairly decent defensively despite being a poor tackler because his positional sense is decent. He's very two footed (probably the most two footed player in the squad), and is technically decent. He's a vast upgrade on utility players like Dom Ball for example, who was poor, but still a worthwhile squad player who covered numerous positions in the course of a season. He's already better than several of our squad in their preferred roles, so I wouldn't be confident we could go out and get better. None of this is to say he's good, just that he's above average. If we accept that his weakness is physical strength, then that's no different to accepting that Shinnie's weakness is pace, and Devlin's is technical ability. We make up for it by signing players who compliment, whilst working with Polvara on strength conditioning and not being a fanny.

I assumed he was including himself in that? I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I thought he played well in the last two games. His movement was very good on Sunday, making space for others, probably not noticeable on the telly. He's an intelligent player, who quickly gets to grips with the position he's asked to play. He's not a world beater, but slightly above average and can play in numerous positions. We need a player like that in the squad. It means that you don't have to overload the squad with shite. On the assumption that you're always going to have injuries, he's a reasonably dependable all rounder that can cover, meaning that you can offer him twenty games a season comfortably and you don't need two players in every position. It's a case of better the devil you know, and we've seen how poor the signings have been, we'll definitely sign worse.

He can get fucked

As terrible as the world is, I don't think that there's any need for bold letters in the opening post. Anyway, it's just the beginning of civilisational collapse. It'll a decade or three to get into its stride, it's fine. When all the hard to reach resources have been used up, which they largely have, and when population begins to drop, then this is the result - always. Venezuela is as much about the US having oil as it is China not having it. They're not making roads without Venezuelan oil, that's for sure (or at least not very good ones). You can have all the solar panels in the world, but diesel builds infrastructure. We're basically entering a period where our children and their children will have less energy at their disposal (especially with the negligent AI waste). Our economic system can't handle degrowth. The mental cases in charge have spent fifty years shouting GDP, growth, "what about the economy" and "he/she is economically illiterate" at anyone who tried to point out the anti-thermodynamic cult that they had created. They'll die clinging to those religious economic beliefs.

That's because Robson continued to try and play the exact same style (Clarkson behind two guys pressing) as he had previously, seemingly unaware that he'd replaced Ramadani with McGrath. It was like having two Clarksons. In the first half last night, Clarkson was sitting deeper than Shinnie and Polvara, and it worked very well and Clarkson was our best player.

Raving about it on the radio. He's some goalie like. Better nae get injured.

I had considered the 3-5-2, but assumed he might go with a more recognised number ten. Although I have said previously that Milanovic looks to me like a guy that wants to be central, so would like to see it.

Interesting to see where Polvara is. I have a feeling it's a 3-4-3. I like Polvara there, and it also allows him to step into a 4-2-3-1 if necessary, which it could also be (Clarkson ahead of Shinnie and Polvara). I'm guessing the former.